Munster Junior Cup 2012/13

[hotspur]

Where did I disrespect Clonmel Hotspur?? What goes on Facebook is others peoples business,if pike beat Balla and face Clonmel in the final pike will win handy,even yere own players said so after watching the game last evening.

you said if they meet pike in final they will need more than gods help so are you saying they got gods help last night,i was with the pike lads last night and everyone of us thought clonmel were the better side and deserved the win, the referee gave carew a couple of very kind decisions but overall i thought clonmel were too clever for carew.as i said they are in the final on merit beating 2 top limerick teams on the way.

[js79]

you said if they meet pike in final they will need
more than gods help so are you saying they got gods help last night,i was with the pike lads last night and everyone of us thought clonmel were the better side and deserved the win, the referee gave carew a couple of very kind decisions but overall i thought clonmel were too clever for carew.as i said they are in the final on merit beating 2 top limerick teams on the way.

As I said before I am not disrespecting Clonmel, what I said about gods help was a reply to a previous post,it was a poor game last night,both keepers did not have much to do,in my opinion pike(if they beat Balla) will beat them handy.I am just been honest.

[Fairkop]

celtic marginally the better of two poor teams last night.arrived late so missed the first goal,heard it was very soft.did not think carew got going at all,and hardly created a chance.from my position in the stand the pitch looked pretty bad ,almost as bad as the officials who got several decisions wrong.is pat boyle injured?big loss for carew.

[Roberto]

As I said before I am not disrespecting Clonmel, what I said about gods help was a reply to a previous post,it was a poor game last night,both keepers did not have much to do,in my opinion pike(if they beat Balla) will beat them handy.I am just been honest.

To be honest don't give a toss what you think. Celtic were deserving winners last night considering they were missing 3 or 4 players. By the way we were told on 2 occasions last year that Pike 'would beat us handy'. Fair play to Celtic for getting to their first major final and now just one win away from our first league title. Apart from a 20/25 min spell before the break Carew didn't bother Celtic much. I was more impressed with Janesboro tbh.

[hotspur]

To be honest don't give a toss what you think. Celtic were deserving winners last night considering they were missing 3 or 4 players. By the way we were told on 2 occasions last year that Pike 'would beat us handy'. Fair play to Celtic for getting to their first major final and now just one win away from our first league title. Apart from a 20/25 min spell before the break Carew didn't bother Celtic much. I was more impressed with Janesboro tbh.

thats a fair asessment of the game,i thought clonmel did what they had to and got a deserved result,no one from pike even thinking about clonmel ,we a very tough semi final ahead and if we come through that then we will think about the final, also last year clonmel deservedly beat us twice so no one from pike passing any judgement on clonmel

[Roberto]

show a bit of respect, clonmel are in the final on merit and beat pike twice last year,alot of not nice posts flying around on facebook aswel calling clonmel shower of hams and a cat team,hope its down to carews inexperience of losing a big game and not how they will conduct themselves in future

People who go on facebook to slag off and make disparaging remarks about other teams are cowardly airheads in my opinion. To call Celtic a 'cat' team does a great disservice to the Limerick league. This 'cat' team beat Pike twice last year, beat Janesboro and saw off Carew last night. Not bad for a cat team. I know Pike (if they win other semi) are not naive enough to think they will beat Celtic based on last night's performance as the final will be a whole new ball game. Pike will start favourites and could well win and we'll be the first to congratulate them if they do. We're delighted to make a final but it's all about the League for us.

Ps Not disrespect to Ballynanty for my constant references to Pike. If we can cause an upset no reason why Ballynanty can't. Any team that beats St Michaels deserve respect.

[gaidin]

People who go on facebook to slag off and make disparaging remarks about other teams are cowardly airheads in my opinion. To call Celtic a 'cat' team does a great disservice to the Limerick league. This 'cat' team beat Pike twice last year, beat Janesboro and saw off Carew last night. Not bad for a cat team. I know Pike (if they win other semi) are not naive enough to think they will beat Celtic based on last night's performance as the final will be a whole new ball game. Pike will start favourites and could well win and we'll be the first to congratulate them if they do. We're delighted to make a final but it's all about the League for us.

Ps Not disrespect to Ballynanty for my constant references to Pike. If we can cause an upset no reason why Ballynanty can't. Any team that beats St Michaels deserve respect.

Fair play to Clonmel. All the talk a few weeks back was how it could be 4 limerick teams in the semis and an all Limerick final. Clonmel have put out 2 of Limericks big hitters. No easy feat.

They deserve a lot of respect and shouldnt be taken lightly by anyone.

[ponyobrien]

Pike 1-1 Ballynanty AET pike win on pens

[ponyobrien]

Munster Junior cup final

Clonmel Celtic v Pike Rovers

Venue: Cahir park

11th May

[js79]

Any report on the pike and Balla game lads??

[MikeBassett]

Any report on the pike and Balla game lads??

Poor performance from Pike throughout. Long high ball after long high ball. Balla deserved to go through in my opinion, better team on the night. Tierney a huge loss for Pike. Unless Pike start getting their best 11 out they can forget about winning the FAI. Young lad Alex Purcell looks to have a lot of potential

[Fairkop]

i must have been at a different game,pike dominated the game,were by far the better team though did not create enough,colbert man of the match imo,the right back for balla did well{he went left full later}.balla did have two good chances on the break in the second half but neville saved both.halftime sub for pike ,not sure of his name? was a big improvement on the lad he replaced.balla gave it everything but they could not hold out under constant pressure ,that late leveller was heartbreak for them because to a man they did their best.

[MikeBassett]

Take off the Pike blinkers lads. Ya they had a lot of the ball but did very, very little in the final third and created barely any chances, constant hail Mary long balls from deep for most of the game from them. Balla played as if their lives depended on it, had Pike rattled and were unlucky not to have had a second goal before the break and as you said missed 2 very good chances on the counter. A lot of below-par displays from Pike, Tierney's creativity and attacking threat in midfield was sorely missed, O'Donovan missed at left-back as well.
Ref was an absolute joke as well gave everything in favour of Pike

[dirtfree]

You must have been at a different game to me.not bad for a team struggling Munster league champs in the final of Munster junior semi of fai and still going for the league and still in the lawson cup.connie out I say haha

Still in the Lawson 👎😳

[ponyobrien]

Munster Junior cup final

Clonmel Celtic v Pike Rovers

Venue: Cahir park

11th May

Venue changed to Cooke park

[nosebleds]

Take off the Pike blinkers lads. Ya they had a lot of the ball but did very, very little in the final third and created barely any chances, constant hail Mary long balls from deep for most of the game from them. Balla played as if their lives depended on it, had Pike rattled and were unlucky not to have had a second goal before the break and as you said missed 2 very good chances on the counter. A lot of below-par displays from Pike, Tierney's creativity and attacking threat in midfield was sorely missed, O'Donovan missed at left-back as well.
Ref was an absolute joke as well gave everything in favour of Pike
anyone who watched the match will know you are talking a load of rubbish,pike the better team in all fairness,good tough old fashioned game with both teams giving it all.
,

[gaidin]

anyone who watched the match will know you are talking a load of rubbish,pike the better team in all fairness,good tough old fashioned game with both teams giving it all.
,

I thought Pike were poor also. After Ballas early goal, Pike dominated possession but did very little with it. The first 25mins of the second half was Pike throwing long ball after long ball into the box. The balla defence dealt with it comfortably. But fair to play to Pike for keep plugging away and got a deserved equaliser for their perserverance . Balla sat too deep and invited Pike on too much. It was a dangerous game that almost paid off for them.

[deadly man]

MJC final prediction

Clonmel Celtic 3-2 Pike rovers

[biglad101]

Its to close to call I think can see it goin the whole way to penos hope not, its no way to lose a game.

[Hibs7772]

MJC final prediction

Clonmel Celtic 3-2 Pike rovers
I reckon 2-1 Pike

[Hollywood Hogan]

Pike have a lot of injury concerns. Mullins, colm, tierney and hartnett all doubtful. Game will hinge on fitness of enright , Mullins and tierney. Have clonmel a few injuries aswell

[faceoff]

Pike have a lot of injury concerns. Mullins, colm, tierney and hartnett all doubtful. Game will hinge on fitness of enright , Mullins and tierney. Have clonmel a few injuries aswell

Pat Mullins, John Tierney played on Monday against Corbally so I'd imagine they're ok.Heard at the game that Enright won't make it ok.

[rooney23]

id say it will be a close game but i think pike will just nick it 3 - 2

[complexman]

I'm a Clonmel Town fan. I hope Celtic win on Sunday. I know a lot of the lads on the team and they are a great bunch. I for one would not begrudge them any success comes their way. Best of luck

[mrman]

4-1 Clonmel

[biglad101]

Doubt there'l be that big of a difference between them come 5pm tomorrow I would be delighted if that was the score cant see it tho.

[faceoff]

4-1 Clonmel

Is that your wish or prediction.think it will go all the way to penalties. 2 evenly matched teams.

[badker]

pike won 2-1

[complexman]

Hard luck Celtic. Penalty miss was crucial. Think better team won

[Galla]

Hard luck Celtic. Penalty miss was crucial. Think better team won

Unfortunately so- Celtic got all the breaks but didn't take advantage. Pike defence very solid - Dwayne Burns should have been on earlier.
Still a great season for Celtic - hopefully more big days ahead for them

[Second]

I reckon 2-1 Pike

Good call

[AlanOB]

Clonmel Celtic 1-2 Pike Rovers

A bizarre game at Cooke Park this afternoon - Pike should have been out of sight by half time, yet at the final whistle Celtic were reflecting on what might have been.

Both sides set up in a classic 4-4-2 shape with two out and out strikers. Pike were out of the blocks quickly and signaled their intention to press high up the pitch from early on. Clonmel were not able to pass out of this press and were often forced to play speculative balls forward into the channels or to the strikers that resulted in losses of possession. The rather negative positioning of both centre mids contributed to this in terms of the battle for the second ball. Pike on the other hand weren't afraid to commit men forward, with the returning Tierney making his usual marauding runs on and off the ball from the middle of the park. He was to have the first chance of the game in the opening minutes. A cross from the left by Hanrahan was won in the air by Moloney. The ball fell to Tierney on the edge of the area, who shot wide.

This was the first in a string of chances for the Limerick side. Seconds later, a slip by a Clonmel centre half let in Pike right mid Jason Heffernan. His strike hit the upright. Soon after, the other centre half slipped while attempting a clearance. This allowed Pa Moloney in down the inside right channel. His cross shot was saved by Richie Ryan in the Clonmel goal. Pike left full Eddie O'Donovan also fashioned an opportunity for himself. He skinned his man before unleashing a powerful drive that glanced the crossbar before going over.

And so the pattern continued. Pike pressed high and Clonmel conceded possession. Yet it was the latter who would open the scoring. With 5 minutes remaining in the first half, a free kick was delivered in from the right by their left full/left mid (more on this in a moment). Gary Neville failed to claim and the ball bounced in off the back of a Clonmel head. The phrase "against the run of play" was invented for moments like this.

It wasn't long before Pike were level. Clonmel were engaging in a bizarre swap between Kevin Waters at left mid and their left full. They seemed to be interchanging regularly from about the 20th minute on. Eventually this cost them. Tierney dispossessed the Clonmel no 8 in the middle of the park. He noticed a huge gap between the left sided centre half and the left full Waters, and delivered the football through it. Moloney ran on to it and brought Pike level. 1-1.

Unbelievably there was still time for more action before the whistle. Right on the stroke of half time, Pike won a free on the left. Tierney delivered, it fell to Barry, who squared it to an unmarked Moloney. 1-2.

Realistically, Pike could have been up 1-5 at this stage. You would have been forgiven for thinking that they would win comfortably from that point, but the second half saw a momentum shift in Clonmel's favour. The pressing that instituted Pike's dominance in the first half was much less prominent in the second. The Limerick side were retreating and Clonmel were in the ascendancy. They got their reward after an hour, with the award of a penalty. A ball into the channel led to a foul from Wayne Colbert. The resulting free (again delivered by the no 3, whose delivery today was exceptional) found the hand of Eoin Hanrahan, who was subsequently booked. Alas, for Clonmel, the resulting spot kick was saved by Gary Neville.

Soon after, Clonmel introduced Brian Waters on the right, moving their right mid into the centre. The latter proceeded to take a far higher position than either Clonmel mid had taken in the first half. The no 6 was now the deeper of the two, and he looked for more comfortable, dropping deep to collect the ball from his defence and helping it forward. Coupled with the reduction in pressing intensity from Pike, this meant that Clonmel were now enjoying spells of possession, without really creating much from open play.

Pike responded to this shift in momentum by introducing John Okoro upfront, presumably for a bit of pace on the counter. He had the chance to finish the game off with about 10 to go. Richie Ryan, the Clonmel keeper, won the one-on-one battle.

By this point, Clonmel had switched to a 3-4-1-2 (ish) shape and were throwing the kitchen sink at it. They had two clear chances to level. First their substitute striker snatched at a chance with the goal at his mercy after Pike failed to clear from a set piece. Then their no 9 (Sean O'Hara?), whose touch had let him down on numerous occasions during the game, was put clean though against keeper Neville. The latter smothered the ball at his feet.

That was it for Clonmel. Pike did a good job of keeping the ball in the corner during injury time to kill the contest.

No doubt that the better team won. Clonmel didn't force a save from Neville in the first half and were it not for some profligate finishing Pike would have been out of sight at the 45 minute mark. However, the drop in intensity from Pike, coupled with the growing dominance of the Clonmel no 6 meant that the Tipp side were able to get a foothold in the game. Alas, they didn't have the creativity of a player like John Tierney to take advantage of their spell on top. He was the clear standout player on the day.

Clonmel didn't look to trouble Pike between the lines where they are most vulnerable. Neither striker dropped off enough and neither centre mid in the first half was aggressive enough in his positioning. The situation on their left side was bizarre and didn't help matters. Congratulations to Pike.

[biglad101]

Great post alan im a celtic man myself an I think your post was spot on better team won on the day.
Pike could of been 3 up after ten mins we got into it more in the second half without really troublin the pike keeper but I think if we had of scored the peno was a good chance we would of went onto win the lads were sayin a few of the pike players were strugglin fitness wise. Have to say pikes experince showed in the latter stages they were very good at seeing the game out. Was a good (bad)experince for celtic an im sure they'l be back next year contestin the munster an fai great squad of players well done to pike.

[AlanOB]

Interesting that the Clonmel players also stressed the importance of fitness in what was almost an unlikely turnaround. In fairness, I don't think fitness is quite the right word. It's difficult to expect players at amateur level to continue that level of intense pressing for 45 minutes let alone 90. Pike's early exertions clearly cost them physically later on, but they were unlucky not to have put the game out of reach during that period. A couple of players were noticeably struggling more than the others however. One player in particular was clearly out on his feet and struggling to regain his position a good 10/15 minutes before he was replaced.

[biglad101]

Yea fitness prob wasnt the right word to use. Tiredness would be better as you said its difficult to keep it going for 90mins pike did a lot of closing down early on was bound to have an affect later in the game. All in all was a good game cant dispute the better team on the day won.

[Hibs7772]

Good call
Yeah it wasn't a bad call at all, knew it would be tight but just fancied Pike they usually do it on the big occasion. Wish i had a few bob on it now haha

[Minesapint]

Very enjoyable game to watch pike looked very organised and set there stall out early on with a few missed chances, well done pike rovers.

[fanaticfan]

congrats to pike on keeping the cup in limerick